To celebrate 20 years of ocean conservation and education through the Volunteer Survey Project, and to honor our members for making these successes possible, REEF will be hosting a fun-filled weekend of diving, learning, and parties -- August 8-11, 2013, in Key Largo. Please mark your calendar and save the date! More details will be announced in the coming months. The first REEF surveys were conducted during a Field Survey trip in Key Largo, Florida, in the summer of 1993. Led by co-Founders, Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach, as well as founding Executive Director, Lad Akins, a total of thirteen volunteers conducted 102 surveys. Almost 20 years later, the REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project has grown to become the largest ocean citizen science program. Approximately 14,000 volunteer divers and snorkelers have conducted over 165,000 surveys at 12,000 sites throughout the world. These data have been used by scientists, government agencies, and other conservation groups, and have been featured in dozens of scientific publications. Our marine conservation programs, education initiatives, and research efforts are backed by over 50,000 REEF members. We hope you will join us next August to celebrate 20 years of education, surveys, fish stories, and friendships!

Red Sea Urchin populations in Washington State are being examined using REEF data. Photo by Janna Nichols.

Every month, scientists, government agencies, and other groups request raw data from REEF’s Fish Survey Project database. Here is a sampling of who has asked for REEF data recently and what they are using it for:

- A National Research Council post-doctoral fellow is using REEF sightings data on manta and mobula to evaluate global populations of these at-risk species.

- A researcher is evaluating fish distribution and abundance data from south Florida to be included in a NOAA document used to respond to oil spills.

- A University of Washington researcher is using data on Red Sea Urchin to evaluate population trends in this important echinoderm that is increasingly harvested.

- A graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is using population data on Nassau Grouper to document populations trends of this endangered Caribbean reef fish.

As REEF heads into the 20th year of the Volunteer Fish Survey Project, we will be looking back at some of the milestones that got us here. In this month's Faces of REEF, we feature one of our earliest members, Ken Marks. Ken was instrumental in helping guide REEF in our early years, building the first data processing and storage tools. Ken first met REEF Co-Founder, Paul Humann, on a dive trip in 1992. Paul soon realized Ken's computer background and mentioned the idea that he and Ned DeLoach were working on for a diver-led fish survey program. The unsolved problem was the logistics of collecting data. They had thought of mailing out 3.5" floppies (remember them?!) that would be mailed back by the volunteer diver to REEF HQ (which didn’t even exist at this time). Because this was back in the days before smart phones, tablets, and ubiquitous laptops, Ken suggested a more low-tech approach. After several rounds of prototypes, Ken produced what would become REEF's very first survey scanform. Today, Ken remains an important part of our IT volunteer team, and has conducted 311 REEF surveys. Here's what Ken had to say about REEF:

When and how did you first volunteer with REEF?

After meeting Paul on a liveaboard dive boat, we got to talking about ways divers could report fish sightings. I suggested a computer scannable form as a solution and upon my return to Chicago researched the specifications for creating such a form. Over the next couple of months I wasted lots of Paul’s fax paper sending him 17 evolving versions of what came to be the first version of the REEF survey form, which was first printed in 1993. The creation of the REEF underwater survey sheets, guides such as Fish-in-a-Pocket and waterproof ID cards, training DVDs and courses, and the web-based online data entry are all indications that REEF has matured from its humble beginnings.

Do you dive close to where you live? Where is your favorite place to dive?

Though my involvement with REEF I have been fortunate to be able to work with scientists and various organizations surveying and teaching fish identification. This has allowed me to dive in many places throughout the Florida, Bahamas, Caribbean area but one of my favorites is just a 45-minute ride from my home – the Blue Heron Blvd Bridge near West Palm Beach. Experienced fish surveyors sooner or later start diving in “alternative habitats” in order to see species that they haven’t seen before. The shore dive under the BHB is a great way to experiencing muck diving without a passport and a 24-hour flight to Indonesia. There are all sorts of things to see “under the bridge” from octopus and bobbit worms to frogfish, stargazers, seahorses, and sea robins.

Do you have any surveying, fishwatching, or identification tips for REEF members?

First – slow down; it’s not a race. The mooring buoy at a dive site is usually placed in the middle of the best area. Let the others burn their air swimming around for hundreds of yards searching for turtles, sharks, dolphins (or whatever “big ticket” species will make their dive). Spend your time slowly searching over the reef (and alternative habitats near the reef) for the odd and unusual that will help you expand your list of species seen. Use the REEF forums, database, and field stations to plan your trip so you can extend your lifelist and see something you’ve never seen before on a dive.

It also helps to really know your fishes. Study your ID books or take one of the REEF courses or webinars to increase your knowledge. When you are very proficient at identifying the common species that are encountered on most dives, the unusual species will be much easier to spot when you come across one. You might even spot a species new to science – several REEF surveyors have made such discoveries over the years.

What is your most memorable fish find and why?

My most memorable fish find would have to be the Yellow Garden Eel (Heteroconger luteolus). Back in 1997, a coworker had mentioned diving on a wreck where a Goliath grouper (then known as Jewfish) had taken up residence for several weeks. At the time I had not yet added this species to my lifelist and was eager to get a photo. The following weekend we dived the site and I was ready with my Nikonos and my wide-angle 15mm lens. Of course the fish had cleared out and I never got the picture. This wreck, a tug boat, was part of a cluster of three closely spaced wrecks so we took a compass bearing and headed across the sand at 70 feet heading for the larger wreck for the rest of the dive. Along the way I noticed a colony of unusual garden eels out feeding in the Gulf Stream current.

About two weeks prior to this dive I had been helping Paul on a new printing of the Reef Fish ID book. I had purchased a reference book from the American Fisheries Society and was using it to verify that Paul’s book was using the AFS accepted common and scientific names. In that reference book, I noticed that the species previously just known as Garden Eel had been renamed to Brown Garden Eel due to a recently described second species of garden eel from the Florida area. The new species name “luteolus” implied that the species was yellow. And bright yellow was the color that I saw while crossing that sand plain at 70 feet between wrecks. I knew in an instant that this must be the newer species of garden eel. I had a friend pull the scientific paper containing its description and it matched exactly what I saw (bright yellow dorsally with a white belly). The paper mentioned that the species was described from a few partial specimens that had been dredged from deep water off Tampa as well as a few larvae that appeared different from the “standard” Brown Garden Eel. I contacted the paper's author and he suggested I try to capture one and send it to him. A short time later Ned & Anna DeLoach, Eric Riesch, and John Pitcairn joined me on a dive to photograph this species and collect a specimen. The fish we collected now sits in the Smithsonian’s collection and is, to this date, the only whole adult specimen of this species in any collection. The photo taken on the collection dive can be found in the latest edition of Reef Fish ID.

Though this was not a new species to science we were able to provide an important specimen and REEF data has subsequently found this species on other sites throughout Florida expanding our knowledge of this colorful little species. Citizen science for the win!

REEF is excited to announce the release of Invasive Lionfish: A Guide to Control and Management. Available as an e-book to view and/or download (formatted for desktop and mobile devices), this extensive manual was created to aid coastal managers and field workers in effectively managing the invasive lionfish problem. This best practices manual consists of chapters on control strategies, outreach and education plans, research, monitoring, legal considerations, and ideas for acquiring resources and vital partnerships from around the region. Invasive lionfish are a major ecological disaster causing wide-reaching negative impacts throughout the western Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. By utilizing examples provided in this guide, researchers and managers throughout the region will be well equipped to address the lionfish invasion.

This work would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of NOAA, REEF, ICRI, the United Nations Environment Programme, Caribbean Environment Programme, SPAWRAC, and the 40+ participants of the 2010 Caribbean Regional Lionfish Workshop. This manual will be the first book in the new GCFI Special Publication Series. Authors include James Morris (NOAA), Dayne Buddo (University of the West Indies, Jamaica), Stephanie Green (Simon Frasier University), Ricardo Lozano (CONANP, Mexico), and Lad Akins (REEF).

For more than 20 years, REEF has been conserving marine ecosystems through education, service, and research. It’s an exciting time for REEF as we work hard to extend the reach of our innovative marine conservation programs. One way REEF is doing this is by inviting diverse leaders to the Board of Trustees to help guide the foundation, including these three new members:

Peter A. Hughes is the Founder of the DivEncounters Alliance, a group of independent live-aboard dive operators. Peter is one of the diving world’s foremost live-aboard operators, having spent more than forty years in the dive industry and over the past 25 years, building his former live-aboard company, Peter Hughes Diving, Inc.

Alexander Alexiou, is a successful Broker for Island Real Estate based in Harbour Island, Bahamas. He has traveled extensively and brings unique insight into the culture and ecology of islands throughout the tropical western Atlantic.

Robert Ramin, formerly the Executive Director of the National Aquarium in Washington, DC, is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Washington Animal Rescue League. He has extensive fundraising and membership development experience and has been a leader at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Management Schools for the past 16 years.

Not sure which Caribbean damselfish this is? Then attend the "Those Darn Damsels" Fishinar next month! Photo by Paul Humann.

Our Webinar team is at it again! New Fishinars continue to be added, and upcoming sessions include a California Critters series, plus several on Caribbean fish families (including those pesky Damsels)! Check out the Webinar Training page (www.REEF.org/resources/webinars) for the most up-to-date listing. These popular online training sessions provide fishie fun in the comfort of your own home. Fishinars are free, and open to all REEF members. You need to register for each session you want to attend. No special software is required, just a web browser. Upcoming sessions include:

California Fish ID Part One and Two - Nov 27, Nov 29

Caribbean Hit Parade! Top 25 Fish - Dec 6

Those Darn Damsels! Top 12 of the Greater Caribbean - Jan 17

California Invertebrate ID Part One and Two - Feb 6, Feb 7

Hamlets: To Be or Not to Be (Counted, that is) - Feb 12

Triggers and Files: The ID Tools of the Trade - Mar 21

Check out the Fishinar page for more details and to register for each session.